Robert Lepage's controversial musical theatre production SLAV, before a mini-tour of Quebec towns. A scene from the dress rehearsal at Universite de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke on Wednesday January 16, 2019.Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette files

This week, Robert Lepage’s theatre company Ex Machina quietly confirmed that there will be no more performances of SLAV, bringing the controversial saga to a fizzling conclusion.

Described as a “theatrical odyssey based on slave songs,” SLAV premiered as part of last year’s Montreal International Jazz Festival, where it was criticized for cultural appropriation due to its mostly white cast.

SLAV’s critics took most of the heat. Protesters were repeatedly dismissed as “violent,” while both Lepage and SLAV’s lead singer Betty Bonifassi cried “censorship” when the show was cancelled after just three performances.

Never mind that Bonifassi had broken her ankle following the third performance, or that no one was actually censoring the production or its creators, merely questioning their choices.

Yet that set the tone for the debate, which became framed as a question of cultural appropriation vs. artistic freedom, with little room for nuance.

The controversy went international, as publications including the New York Times, the Economist and the Guardian took interest.

All the while, Lepage and Bonifassi appeared unflinching in their defiance of SLAV detractors — at least up until Lepage’s meeting with members of protest group the SLAV Resistance Committee in November (which Bonifassi did not attend.)

Lepage didn’t comment on the encounter until the very end of the year when he issued a statement of surprising contrition, admitting to “clumsiness and misjudgment” in dealing with issues of race and cultural appropriation in the past.

“The version of SLAV that we were presenting last June was far from finished,” he said, “and perhaps it wasn’t by chance that the show’s dramaturgical problems corresponded exactly to the ethical problems the show was criticized for.”

His statement was a conveniently timed prelude to the remounted version of SLAV, which was presented in January and February in towns around Quebec including Sherbrooke, St-Jérôme and Chicoutimi.

The new edition of the show featured several changes effected in collaboration with SLAV Resistance Committee member Elena Stoodley, who was hired as a consultant.

The cast now featured three performers of colour out of seven; white performers could no longer be seen picking cotton; and a scene in which Bonifassi had played underground railroad icon Harriet Tubman had been removed.

The production was still far from perfect, but was less problematic than its original incarnation. And given Lepage’s tradition of reworking shows over time, there was reason to believe that he, his company and Bonifassi had ambitions to take SLAV on tour.

If there were any such ideas, they have been quashed. There are rumours of a rift between Bonifassi and Lepage, which is certainly possible after all this.

What appears clear, given this week’s development, is that Lepage and Ex Machina would like to wash their hands of the whole affair and move on. Perhaps that’s for the best.

Despite its professed noble intentions, SLAV was an ill-conceived show from the get-go. By not including the black community in the creative process of a musical theatre production that was primarily about black slavery, Lepage and Bonifassi set themselves up for a crisis that was all too predictable.

Ex Machina issued no statement on the show’s termination, but acknowledged that SLAV will no longer be performed, in an email to La Presse.

The Gazette sent an email request for further comment on the matter, which went unanswered by Ex Machina Friday morning.

But that may not be the last we hear about Lepage and cultural appropriation. Quebec filmmaker Hélène Choquette’s behind-the-scenes documentary Lepage au Soleil: à l’origine de Kanata is set to be released on April 26.